Chapter 173: Hu Family
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling’s perspective was clearly not supported by Mu Shi and Hu Man because the two of them were really good friends.
Mu Shi knew very well that Old Hu was the one who had added insult to injury, not Hu Man. That was why he specially went to tell Qi Haoran not to make things difficult for Hu Man back then. He even pleaded with their platoon commander to take care of Hu Man more.
Although Hu Man was forced to take on the position of section commander back then, he had always been very uneasy. Coupled with his wife’s words, he was even more repulsed by this.
His wife had asked someone to pass a message to him, informing him that someone was occupying a lot of his section’s resources by flaunting his section commander position. This was common in other sections, but it did not mean that Hu Man would agree.
Hu Man thought of what his wife had complained to him while crying. “What benefits did we get after you became the section commander? All the benefits went to your brothers and their wives, but you and I are the ones bearing the infamy. Wouldn’t it be even worse if we have children in the future? I don’t even dare to have children now. As the head of the family, you have to make a decision. We can’t be ungrateful. Judging from Father’s momentum, we’ll end up offending the entire village. They live a good life in the village, and no one can bully them. However, you’re in the army and might have to go to the battlefield in the future. Your life will be in danger if the soldiers under you don’t have your back.”
This was the main reason why Madam Hu-Jin had always objected to offending Mu Shi and the villagers. To her, her husband was the most important. If he died, she would really have nothing left.
It was also this sentence that moved Hu Man.
Hu Man looked for Mu Shi behind his family’s back, saying that he was not qualified for this position.
It was naturally impossible for Mu Shi to return to be the section commander since he was now Qi Haoran’s trusted aide. His treatment and future prospects were much better than that of a section commander’s. Seeing that Hu Man insisted on not doing this job, he brought him to see the platoon commander.
He told the platoon commander to reassign the position of the section commander.
The platoon commander was about to flare up, but when he heard that he could assign this section commander, he restrained his anger. After asking Qi Haoran for instructions, he directly gave the position of section commander to Sun Da.
When the Sun family came to retrieve the oxen, Old Hu found out that the candidate for the section commander had changed again. After his second daughter-in-law went to the military camp and came back, there was suddenly a change in the position of the section commander. Old Hu’s intuition told him that something was wrong. After asking around, he found out that Hu Man had taken the initiative to give it up.
After removing his burden, Hu Man took half a day off and invited Mu Shi to the city to drink and apologize to him.
Old Hu was so angry that he fell backward. This way, the benefits he had gained from offending the Mu family would be gone. Why had he spent so much effort back then?
Even his wife blamed him. Old Hu had been unyielding for his entire life, so how could he tolerate this? He immediately wanted his son to divorce Madam Hu-Jin. Also, he called Hu Man back to beat him up.
Hu Man protected Madam Hu-Jin. Seeing that his father was being unreasonable, he shouted, “Let’s split up! If we can’t live together anymore, let’s split up. I don’t want anything. Is that okay?”
Hu Man threw away the stick he had snatched from his father and looked at his parents and brothers with red eyes. “I won’t divorce my wife. She and I are going to live together for the rest of our lives. If you can’t live with me anymore, then let’s split up.”
Old Hu pointed at him and could not speak. After a long time, he spat out two words, “Unfilial son!”
Hu Man turned to look at his father and wiped his face. Seeing that his hands were covered in blood, he said, “Father, if you must insist that I’m an unfilial son, so be it. In any case, you and Mother have been biased since we were young. You’ve been biased towards Big Brother and Third Brother. In the past, I’ve tolerated it. I’ve also given up all the land you asked me to give them. I’ve also gone to join the army. When you asked me and my wife to give the house to Third Brother for his wedding, I’ve also conceded. What else do you want?”
Frowning, Madam Hu-Fang looked at him. “What are you talking about? We gave birth to you and raised you…”
“Then, Mother, don’t you think I’ve repaid you by working hard for you for so many years and died for you once? Now, I’ve even gone to the army on behalf of our family.” Hu Man looked straight at his mother and asked word by word, “Don’t you think I’ve paid off the debt?”
Madam Hu-Fang’s expression changed drastically as she looked at her quiet son with a complicated expression.
Seeing that they were silent, Hu Man pulled his wife into the house and said, “Pack your things. Go back to your maternal family and stay for a while. I’ll go back to the military camp and pick you up when I’m on leave. No matter who comes to talk to you at home, don’t believe them.” Hu Man took out a few hundred copper coins from his pocket and quietly stuffed them into her hand. He said in a low voice, “I secretly saved this. Keep it well.”
Madam Hu-Jin looked at him with red eyes and lowered her head. “Then I’ll go back and wait for you.”
Hu Man nodded.
Seeing that his son had sent Madam Hu-Jin away, Old Hu’s expression turned even uglier. He pointed at him and said, “Unless I die and step over me, no one is allowed to split from the family!”
Hu Man only looked at him in a daze. For some reason, Old Hu felt a little disappointed. He hugged his head and regretted it. If he hadn’t raised those conditions with Mu Yangling back then, the family wouldn’t have been in such a mess. Even if his second daughter-in-law was dissatisfied, she could only hide it in her heart. His second son would still only work hard in silence. Their family would still be the second most well off family in the village, right behind the Mu family. They wouldn’t be criticized wherever they went, unlike now.
He had thought that it was an opportunity, but who knew that it was a fire pit?
How Old Hu regretted it!
Hu Man pulled Madam Hu-Jin and was about to leave when Hu Dian and Madam Hu-Zhang hurriedly pulled them back. Hu Dian pressed his second brother’s shoulder and said in a low voice, “Are you really going to be estranged from our family? No matter how chummy you are with him, can you be closer to him than us brothers?”
Hu Man looked up at him with red eyes. “Big Brother, I’m only asking you this. If I die, will you support my wife and children? Will you make sure your wife doesn’t mistreat them? Tell me the truth.”
Looking into Hu Man’s eyes, Hu Dian opened his mouth but did not say anything. Hu Man said in a low voice, “I knew it long ago. Father and Mother are biased. If I really die on the battlefield, my wife and children will have an even worse life. Big Brother, I don’t blame you, but your priority will be your own family. Same for me. The annual income will be in your and Father’s hands. Being the eldest son in the family, Father will certainly not mistreat you. As the youngest son, Third Brother can count on Mother to plan for him, so he doesn’t have to worry about anything. However, I’m different. When my wife fell sick and needed to take medicine, I had to kneel down and beg Mother. I won’t live such a life anymore. There are also examples of families splitting up in West Village. I’m not afraid of being ostracized by our family and the clan. I’m afraid that my wife and children will suffer behind my back. I fear that if I die, they won’t be able to survive.”
“You don’t even have children yet.” Madam Hu-Fang couldn’t take it anymore and shouted, “If you blame us for being biased, why don’t you say that you forgot your mother after getting a wife? You two don’t even have children yet.”
“Mother, it’s just that we don’t dare to have children!”
Looking into her son’s eyes, Madam Hu-Fang’s words were stuck in her throat. She could only watch as the couple left with a bag.